Baseball stance and stride practice plate



p 19, 1967 D. J. DAVID 3,342,487

BASEBALL STANCE AND STRIDE PRACTICE PLATE Filed Dec. 14, 1964 INVENTOR.DAVID J. DAVID ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofi ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A baseball batting stance and stride practice plate includinga fiat plate with raised ridges forming batter foot guides. One ridge isdisposed along the width of the plate and the batters back foot isdisposed against this ridge which is provlded with an opening to allowthe back foot to swivel during the stride. Two other ridges are disposedacross the full width of the plate in laterally spaced apart diagonaldirection against which the forward foot of the batter is disposed bothbefore and after he takes his batting stride. A fourth ridge is disposedalong the front edge of the plate.

p This invention relates to baseball practice batting plates,

and more particularly'to a novel baseball batting stance and stridepractice plate.

Heretofore there have been provided many baseball practice batting teesfor use in improving hitting, and in particular for studying anddeveloping the basic fundamentals of hitting. However, the prior artpractice batting tees have failed to teach the proper stance and strideof a baseball batter which is basic to proper hitting. Accordingly, itis an important object of the present invention to provide a novelbaseball batting stance and stride practice'plate' for use indeveloping, correcting and studying the basic fundamentals of the properstance and stride necessary for good batting.

It is another object of the present inventiont to provide a novelbaseball batting stance and stride practice plate for teaching battersthe proper stance for batting, including the stance a batter takesbefore the ball is pitched and the stride and stance the batter takeswhen the ball is pitched.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novelbaseball batting stance and stride practice plate which can be used bylittle league and major league batters, which is simple and compact inconstruction, economical to manufacture, and effective in use.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novelbaseball batting stance and stride practice plate which comprises a flatplate with raised ridges forming batter foot guides. The plate isprovided with one ridge running along the Width of the plate againstwhich the batters back foot is disposed and which ridge is provided withan opening to allow this foot to swivel during the stride. Two otherridges are disposed across the full width of the plate in laterallyspaced apart diagonal directions against which the forward foot of thebatter is disposed both before and after he takes his batting stride. Afourth ridge is disposed along the front edge of the plate.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will beapparent from the following detailed description, appended claims, andthe accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the home base area of a conventional baseballfield, showing the right and left hand batters boxes and the home plate;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a left hand batters stance and stridepractice plate made in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention;

3,342,487 Patented Sept. 19, 1967 ice FIG. 3 is a front elevational viewof the structure illustrated in FIG. 2, taken along the line 3-3thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the structure i1- lustrated inFIG. 2, taken from the left upper corner of FIG. 2, and from the frontside of the plate;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a right hand batters stance and stridepractice plate made in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is a transverse, elevational sectional view of the structureillustrated in FIG. 5, taken along the line 66 thereof, and looking inthe direction of the arrows; and,

FIG. 7 is a front elevational perspective view of the structureillustrated in FIG. 5, taken from the right rear upper corner viewed inFIG. 5.

Referring now to the drawing and in particular to FIG. 1, the numeral 10generally indicates a portion of a conventional baseball playing field.The numeral 11 generally indicates a conventional home base. Thenumerals 12 and 13 generally indicate conventional right and left handbatter boxes, respectively. The numeral 14 in FIGS. 1, 5, 6, and 7generally indicates a right hand batters stance and stride practiceplate made in accordance with the principles of the present invention.The numeral 15 in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, generally indicates a left handbatters stance and stride practice plate made in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 the right hand batters stance and stridepractice plate comprises a substantially rectangular plate 16 Which isdisposed in the batters box 12 adjacent the home base 11 in a spacedapart position.

FIG. 1 shows the practice plate 14 in a position with the.

front longitudinal edge 17 in a position spaced apart approximately 12inches from the adjacent edge of the home base 11. The plate 16 may bemade from any suitable material as for example, plastic, aluminum, wood,or the like. While the plate 16 is illustrated as being rectangular itwill be understood that it could be of any other suitable shape, as forexample square, or round, as desired.

The plate 16 is provided with a plurality of holes 13 for attaching thisplate to the ground within the batters box 12 by any suitable means, asby being bolted to anchor plates or by pointed spike members 29 as shownin FIG. 5.

Fixedly mounted along the front longitudinal edge of the plate 16 is afirst raised ridge or guide 19. As shown, the ridge 19 is substantiallysquare in cross section and may be made from the same material as theplate 16. The right hand batters stance and stride practice plate 14further includes a second raised ridge or guide 20 which is disposedtoward the right end of the plate as viewed in FIG. 5 and which extendsperpendicularly across the width of the plate 16 toward the front ridge19. The ridge 20 is spaced inwardly from the right edge of the plate 16and extends from the plate rear edge 21 forwardly toward the front ridge19, to the point 22 which is spaced apart from the ridge 19 a distanceof approximately 8 inches. The plate is preferably 16 inches in width by28 inches in length. The ridges 19 and 20 may be about /2. inch square.

As shown in FIG. 5, the right hand batters stance and stride plate 14 isfurther provided with a pair of parallel, laterally spaced apart ridgesor guides 23 and 24. The ridges 23 and 24 extend from the rear edge 21of the plate 16 forwardly, and to the left on a diagonal line of about45, to engagement with the longitudinal ridge 19.

The ridges or guides 23 and 24 are laterally spaced apart a distance ofapproximately 6 inches so as to measure a 6 inch stride when the leftfoot of a batter is moved from the solid line position 25 in FIG. 5 tothe dotted line position '26 of FIG. 5. The rear end of the diagonalridge 24 starts at the point 27, which is approximately 3 inches 3 fromthe inner side of the ridge 20. It will be understood that the ridges orguides 19, 20, 23 and 24 may be fixed to the plate 16 by any suitablemeans, and may be formed integral with the plate 16 if plate 16 is madefrom plastic and molded as in integral unit. All of these guides orridges may be of equal size, as for example /2 inch square.

The lefthand batters stance and stride plate 15 is constructed in thesame manner as the plate 14 with the ridges 20, 23, and 24 reverselydisposed to fit a left handed batter, and accordingly, the samereference numerals have been applied to the corresponding parts followedby the small letter a.

The stance and stride plate of the present invention may be used on anactual baseball field as illustrated in FIG. 1, or it can be used athome, as for example in front of a mirror to practice the proper stanceand stride of a baseball batter. Experience throughout the years hasshown that a batters stride should not exceed 6 inches for a properbatting stance and stride. The 6 inch stride is the same for young andold players although the initial stance for an older player may belarger.

In the use of the present invention, assuming a right handed batter ispracticing, the right foot of the batter is placed in the solid footline position indicated by the numeral 28 in FIG. 7. The front end ofthe right foot is in alignment wtih the inner side of the ridge 20 andit may preferably abut the front longitudinal ridge 19. The left foot ofthe batter is placed in the position 25. When the batter is ready totake his stride he will stride forward, or to the left as viewed in FIG.5, with his left foot and move it to the dotted line position 26 withthe side of his foot against the ridge 23 and the front edge thereofabutting the front longitudinal ridge 19. The open space between thefront end 22 of the ridge 20 permits the right foot to be pivotedclockwise as viewed in FIG. 1. It will be seen that the stance andstride plate of the present invention trains a batter in the properinitial placement of his feet relative to the home plate 11 and assistshim in developing the proper length stride and placement of the leftfoot during a batting action. The same procedure is followed when theplate 15 is used by a left handed &

batter. Experience has shown that the stance and stride practice plateof the present invention is an efficient and useful tool in the baseballart.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiments of theinvention herein disclosed are well calculated to fulfill the objectsabove stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptibleto modification, variation and change without departing from the properscope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What I claim is:

1. A stance and stride practice plate for a baseball hitter, for usewith a home base, comprising:

(a) a fiat plate;

(b) a first generally straight foot guide member secured adjacent oneedge of the plate adapted to be disposed in a parallel position with theadjacent edge of a home base;

(c) a second foot guide member secured adjacent one side edge of theplate in perpendicular relationship to said first guide member; and,

(d) at least a pair of foot guide members on the plate in laterallyspaced apart positions from said second foot guide member and from eachother diagonally disposed across said plate, the ends adjacent saidfirst guide member being a substantially greater perpendicular distancefrom said second guide member than the opposite ends thereof.

2. The stance and stride practice plate for a baseball hitter as definedin claim 1, wherein:

(a) said second foot guide member is spaced apart from said first footguide member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,039,771 6/1962 Bablouzian eta1. 273-'-54 X 3,051,486

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

Assistant Examiners,

8/1962 Zenchenko 273-54-

1. A STANCE AND STRIDE PRACTICE PLATE FOR A BASEBALL HITTER, FOR USEWITH A HOME BASE, COMPRISING: (A) A FLAT PLATE; (B) A FIRST GENERALLYSTRAIGHT FOOT GUIDE MEMBER SECURED ADJACENT ONE EDGE OF THE PLATEADAPTED TO BE DISPOSED IN A PARALLEL POSITION WITH THE ADJACENT EDGE OFA HOME BASE; (C) A SECOND FOOT GUIDE MEMBER SECURED ADJACENT ONE SIDEEDGE OF THE PLATE IN PERPENDICULAR RELATIONSHIP TO SAID FIRST GUIDEMEMBER; AND (D) AT LEAST A PAIR OF FOOT GUIDE MEMBERS ON THE PLATE INLATERALLY SPACED APART POSITIONS FROM SAID SECOND FOOT GUIDE MEMBER ANDFROM EACH OTHER DIAGONALLY DISPOSED ACROSS SAID PLATE, THE ENDS ADJACENTSAID FIRST GUIDE MEMBER BEING A SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER PERPENDICULARDISTANCE FROM SAID SECOND GUIDE MEMBER THAN THE OPPOSITE ENDS THEREOF.